Tag Archive: vampires


Review: Cables and Conjurers by Nancy Warren

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June 23, 2025

Cables and Conjurers (Vampire Knitting Club, #15)Cables and Conjurers by Nancy Warren
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Why is it over so soon? It was such a welcome relief when Libby shared with me that they are now carrying Nancy Warren’s books, including this latest addition to the Vampire Knitting Club. These books are so much fun! With all that is going on in the world, one needs a good escape.

No, you don’t need to know anything about knitting. After all, the yarn store owner, Lucy Swift, knows only enough to get in trouble. Nor do many vampire rules apply in these books. Hence, the fun of the club that meets after the store closes.

I think my only issue with any of these books is the murder that must be solved. But somehow, we’ve grown cozy with folks being killed. Besides, it does keep the story going.

Nancy Warren’s writing, including her fantastic sense of humor make these stories perfect. Sarah Zimmerman (Narrator) knows how to relate the scenes flawlessly.

Sadly, I’m finished with the series. I must seek out more of Nancy Warren books! Please, if you need a lightweight read, look for this Vampire Knitting series.

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Review: Kat Drummond Ten Book Box Set by Nicholas Woode-Smith

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April 28, 2025

Kat Drummond Ten Book Box SetKat Drummond Ten Book Box Set by Nicholas Woode-Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This series took me a while to read. A South African monster slayer, post-apocalypse, still in college in a time when monsters now roam. Kat Drummond is a ghost-inhabited student just trying to get by. She can be sassy, but mostly a new adult full of the normal insecurities we all have in our late teens and early twenties.

This was fun, if not downright bloody. The gross scenes were vivid and not the best for a bedtime read. But before long, the characters grow on you, and the story holds up over the scarier or grosser parts.

I can see young adults and new adults loving this series.

The coolest part of this book was that it took place in South Africa. It is a nice diversion from the usual books we can access here in the States. This is a fun series if you can handle monsters to learn about how real people operate in less than the best circumstances.

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Review: Battle Bond: An Urban Fantasy Dragon Series: Death Before Dragons, Book 2 by Lindsay Buroker

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April 8, 2025

Battle Bond: An Urban Fantasy Dragon Series: Death Before Dragons, Book 2Battle Bond: An Urban Fantasy Dragon Series: Death Before Dragons, Book 2 by Lindsay Buroker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Vivienne Leheny narrated this audiobook. I had attempted to read the text-to-speech Kindle version. It was difficult to stay in the story as Kindle’s TTS read a main character named Nine Inch Nails and called fingers finJa. Nin was the person’s name. She didn’t show up often, but that moniker didn’t work.

This series is a great distraction from all the worries of our day. Who doesn’t need a dragon who becomes human. I can’t wait to read the next installment.

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Re-review: Sinister Magic by Lindsay Buroker

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March 25, 2025

Sinister Magic (Death Before Dragons, #1)Sinister Magic by Lindsay Buroker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sorry for a repeat. I finished reading/listening to the Kindle Text-to-Speech edition a week ago. And though I liked it overall, the story was lost to me as the person named Nin was referred to as Nine-Inch-Nails, EVERYTIME! It pulled me out of the story, and I felt very distracted while attempting to read.

It is on Audible! I can’t tell you what a marvelous book it is with a narrator! Vivienne Leheny told Lindsay Buroker’s story with enthusiasm. It felt like a totally different story. Ms. Leheny acted out all the characters, making it easy to differentiate who’s who.

I don’t think I discussed location in my last review. I felt right in the story with the places, including Bend, Oregon, Seattle, Washington, and points between. I felt I was right there in the story. I hope everyone gets the chance to read this series.

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Review: Elven Doom by Lindsay Buroker

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March 11, 2025

Elven Doom (Death Before Dragons, #4)Elven Doom by Lindsay Buroker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was another fun addition to the Death Before Dragons series.

Who doesn’t love a dragon that can transform into a handsome man who is out to save your life while you try to save his?

But in this book, our monster-slayer moves on to another mission even though her dragon-man isn’t around to help.

This book might be the most exciting and scary of this series.

I want to listen to these books on audiobooks because I got lost with the text-to-speech. And I often felt such irritation about how the word ‘finger’ is pronounced ‘fin jer’ or how one of the support characters, whose name is Nin, was repeatedly called Nine Inch Nails. That takes me right out of the story. So before I find the next books in the series, I will try to see if I can find the audiobooks.

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Review: Spellbound Box Set, Books 1-10: Paranormal Cozy Mysteries by Annabel Chase

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February 10, 2025

Spellbound Box Set, Books 1-10: Paranormal Cozy MysteriesSpellbound Box Set, Books 1-10: Paranormal Cozy Mysteries by Annabel Chase
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This boxed set has probably been on my ‘currently reading’ shelf for quite a while. Library books always take preference due to due dates. I think it was at the 85th position. I am trying to read the earliest between the newest and borrowed books. It’s a work in progress.

This set is so fun. Each book could hold its own, but I think it is more fun to binge-read them all. Think of it as a long book. Still, it didn’t take me long to get through.

I think the best part of these books is the characters. A ghost vampire, an owl familiar, a fallen angel, and a witch who didn’t know she was a magical being. But there are others, like her gorgan receptionist.

By the way, this is free with Kindle Unlimited. Text-to-speech works well with this set. We all need a little levity. Here’s a fun adventure to lift the mood.

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Review: Written in Red by Anne Bishop

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September 19, 2024

Written in Red (The Others, #1)Written in Red by Anne Bishop
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After starting to read this in Kindle with text-to-speech from Libby, I decided to listen to the Audible version. I prefer the narrator, Alexandra Harris, to the TTS. It was a good read.

It has been a week or so since I finished the read. A little case of COVID got in the way of reviewing reads. Still, I do remember this fondly and look forward to more in the series as I can buy them. In the case of fantasy beings this was a different take. It was fun!

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Review: The Black Bird Oracle by Deborah Harkness

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July 25, 2024

The Black Bird Oracle (All Souls, #5)The Black Bird Oracle by Deborah Harkness
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This has to be my favorite so far. And I can tell there is more to come. We aren’t left on a cliff, so we’re feeling happy and safe for the moment.

And YAY! Jennifer Ikeda is back as our narrator. I love how well she acts out the characters. I am never lost wondering whose point of view we are in.

The twins are growing up, so it is fun to see what traits they have inherited and how they react to the world.

Ah, but now I have to wait for the next book. I love Deborah Harkness’s writing and the research evident in these stories. Historical fiction is so much easier to take than boring fiction taught to us with just guys’ names and dates of wars. The Black Bird Oracles is the best book yet!

If you liked The Discovery of Witches, keep reading.

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Review: Time’s Convert by Deborah Harkness

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July 11, 2024

Time's Convert (All Souls, #4)Time’s Convert by Deborah Harkness
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After reading the first trio of the All Souls series, I was excited to find yet another two books. Sadly,
Saskia Maarleveld (Narrator) is no Jennifer Ikeda, who read the previous three books. Don’t get me wrong, Saskia did a fine job reading; I didn’t feel like she acted out the characters as well as Jennifer did. On the other hand, this book centers more on Marcus and his intended rather than Matthew and his wife, Diana. So the voices of our old friends don’t need to be the same.

What I liked about this book was all the time travel. Not instantaneous but through memories. Marcus has a lot of memories of the early colony days of America. Among the things he remembers is how he was made into a long-lived vampire. I do love his story. And you see what a person has to do as a ‘baby’ vampire as his fiancé has decided to become a baby to live as long as her mate. Deborah Harkness’s vampires seem different than other authors. I’m much more into the witches but that wasn’t the main subject this time.

What this series is best at is bringing in science and historical references. I think the author has researched these topics thoroughly. Yet I don’t feel her story suffers from factual diarrhea.

Since reading this book I looked for more of the series. I picked up The Jewel House thinking it was a part. I’m nearly finished reading it, and, sure enough, Ms. Harkness has done a lot of studying! But it wasn’t a part of the series. It is a stand-alone textbook of sorts. That review will come in a few days. Meanwhile, I found out she wrote book 5. I had to preorder it. I think it comes out after the 15th. I can’t wait!

I don’t want to discourage anyone from reading books 4 and 5. And if you like a little history of science, try ‘The Jewel House.’

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Re-review: The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

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July 2, 2024

The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy, #3)The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Okay, my wishes came true. I got to reread the first three books. This time, I just listened to my Audible version. As I said nearly a decade ago, Jennifer Ikeda’s voice kept the story alive. The thing I have to add is that I discovered this series has two more books than what I left in 2014. So, I have already started reading book four, Time’s Convert. So far, I’m not as happy with the narrator, but I’ll wait for my full review about her later. As my former review states, I think everyone should try it. I loved all three.

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This series was so much fun that I wish I could go back and read it again, right now! I miss the characters and the incredible voice of Jennifer Ikeda. This series is best read with the narration. The experience is over the top!

Anyone who knows me knows I am not into vampires. Okay, I watched Vampire Diary for a while, but it was because of the witch more than anything else. So, if this had not started with A Discovery of Witches and my cousin had not recommended it, I might not have gotten into this series. And the witches sure do kick b*** in this series, so I wasn’t disappointed.

Even writing this gives me a sense of remorse that it is over. Gosh, what a sentimental mush brain, huh? But how else can I tell you how good this series is?

I do have a complaint about the whispersync of this book. For some reason, it would skip over the bottom of each paragraph. But that didn’t stop me. I just signed onto my Audible, played the story from there, and read it on my tablet. Yeah, I had to turn pages, but I hardly noticed as the story moved me forward.

I noticed that there were the slightest threads left undone. Nothing drastic, but it had me hoping there would be more to this series. The last few chapters felt rather anticlimactic, but I wasn’t complaining. It just gave me more time with the family. This was the perfect read for the Halloween season, but it would hold its own over any other set of days, too.

Do read it! I think you’ll enjoy it, too!

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